


More Than Pretty

by daisyisawriter91



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Awkwardness, Episode: s03e17 The Ember Island Players, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Mild Hurt/Comfort, kids in love, the author is projecting her own insecurities shush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:55:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26704852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daisyisawriter91/pseuds/daisyisawriter91
Summary: During the Ember Island Play, Not Aang says something regrettable about Toph, and real Aang has to prove he doesn't think that way.
Relationships: Aang/Toph Beifong
Comments: 4
Kudos: 99





	More Than Pretty

So far, the Ember Island Players were...regrettably misinformed at best, spreading propaganda at worst.  
Either way, Aang wasn’t particularly pleased with the treatment of himself and his friends.

Katara wasn’t whiny and full of tears. Sokka was intelligent and thought about more than food. Zuko’s portrayal was rude, but...a bit more fair. Even if the scar was on the wrong side.  
What really grated on Aang’s nerves, however, was Toph.

Though her character wasn’t incredibly far off, comparatively speaking, the choice of actors rubbed Aang the wrong way.

It didn’t seem Toph agreed. She seemed over the moon with the casting choice, saying she couldn’t have cast it better, herself.  
Aang could have.

As he watched on, he couldn’t stop the sinking pit in his stomach. He had a bad feeling about what was going on in the play. It seemed the stuffiness of the theater was making his life worse.  
He had an unrelenting desire to push up his sleeves or take off his hat, anything to clear away the immense heat invading his body.

The theater smelled of grease and meat and sugar, culminating in an unpleasant aroma, further adding to his anxiety fueled nausea.

Aang remembered the moment playing out in startling clarity. Toph and Katara dressed up as high society ladies to get a chance at talking to the Earth King.  
In real life, they had been jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Toph was far more surprising to see that dolled up, he certainly hadn’t forgotten about such an odd occurrence.  
He doubted he could.

The actor on stage was equally as dolled up as Toph had been, if not more so. Katara’s actress looked proper and demure, but this...it was entirely intended for a joke.

“Uh, gee, Toph,” Not Sokka said. “Didja put on that makeup by yourself?”  
“I did!” Not Toph rejoiced. “Am I pretty?”

A soft snicker echoed through the audience. Aang felt more than saw Toph stiffen at the laughter.  
She couldn’t see the travesty of makeup, or where this was going.  
Aang could. And he wished he couldn’t.  
It was quickly becoming a mantra in his head. _Please don’t do this, please don’t do this, please don’t do this._  
There was little he could do about it.

Not Aang laughed, gleefully, and real Aang’s stomach dropped. It was going to be the fake version of _him_ , wasn’t it?

Sure enough, in an equally cheery tone, Not Aang replied: “Nope!”

The laughter was uproarious. Aang wanted to block out the noise entirely. In an attempt to, he looked over at Toph, hoping she would have taken it well, and knowing she wouldn’t.

Her face looked as if she was struck. Eyes wide, eyebrows pinched, mouth open in horror. Despite knowing he hadn’t said it, the guilt twisting in Aang’s gut was overwhelming.  
Toph touched a hand to her cheek, slowly. All eyes in the booth were on her, and she could likely feel it.

“Toph?” Aang broke the silence amongst their group.  
She stood up, roughly, already on her way out of the private balcony.   
“Toph, wait!” Aang just barely missed grabbing her as she stormed out. Well. Half storming, half running.  
Aang could almost _hear_ something in his chest breaking.

The hurt in her face had been far too much.

“Aang, she’ll be fine. It wasn’t you who said it,” Katara interjected his thoughts, placing a calming hand on his shoulders. “It was a fake line written for a stupid play about us.”  
“I know.” Aang mumbled, staring down at his feet. He couldn’t get the image of Toph’s hurt face out of his head.   
Aang steeled himself. “But she doesn’t know if I really think that way.”

Shaking off Katara’s hand, Aang stood and followed Toph’s path out, hoping he would be able to find her quickly.  
It was never hard to track Toph.

In a small gazebo outside of the theater, Toph was leaning against a pillar, bathed in moonlight. Even from behind, Aang could tell her arms were crossed over her chest. Her head was bent, staring down at the ground.

In the light of the moon and the warmth of the night, Aang couldn’t stop himself from staring. He could barely get a word out.  
She was gorgeous.  
His heart stuttered in his chest.

Well. That would certainly explain a few things.

“What do you want, Twinkletoes?” Toph spat, without as much vitriol as Aang had been expecting. Her voice was almost shaking.  
Was she crying?  
Aang knew better than to ask.

“I wanted to come check on you. That’s not a nice thing to hear about yourself, even if it isn’t true.” Aang approached, slowly, giving her the chance to turn him away.  
“It’s not true?” The amount of vulnerability in those words was enough to shatter Aang’s heart. Yet he could feel a fire burning in his chest.  
“No, of course not! Why would that ever be true?” Aang struggled to remain calm at the idea.

Finally, Toph looked back at him, a wry grin on her face. Though he could still see tear tracks on her cheeks, the expression was familiar enough to set him at ease.  
“Do you think I’m pretty?” The teasing notes in her voice had returned.

“I do. More than pretty!” He exclaimed. He could feel his face heat at how loud he’d been.  
Yet it drew a snort from Toph. Was that habit always that adorable and he just hadn’t noticed?  
“More than pretty? That sure is descriptive, Twinkletoes.”

Aang stepped closer, getting an ever better look at her.  
“Yeah. You’re beautiful.”

It was no trick of the light when he saw her face color. Had he done that?  
Another painful lurch of his heart.

In a quick motion, quicker than Aang could track, Toph surged forward and pressed a kiss just to the left of his lips.  
As quick as it had started, it was over, Toph pulling back. Aang had yet to see her embarrassed.

“Spirits, that was dumb. I even missed. I’ll just, uh, go.” Toph stumbled, beginning to walk away.  
This time, Aang was able to catch her, bringing her in for a properly placed kiss.

His own face was on fire; he could feel Toph’s matching.

Their friends would be looking for them soon, wondering when they’d come back for the rest of the place. But Aang couldn’t bring himself to care.  
Nothing quite made sense in his heart, a torrent of emotions all struggling to talk over each other.

All he knew was that he was kissing his Sifu, who just so happened to be the prettiest girl in the world, no matter what a dumb play said.


End file.
